A reason to be thankful...trust me

So today started out like any other Saturday for the last few weeks, I woke up both early and tired from working the long days in a row Thursday and Friday. I woke up a little after 5 AM in order to get my workout in, get in the shower, have breakfast, pack a lunch, and head off to class. On the way to class the skies opened up something kind of crazy and dumped all kinds of snow all over the place. TDOT was not ready for this to say the lease. It just about 20 minutes the highways were 100% covered in snow and iced over. Cars were sliding all over the place out of control, I was doing just find for a while but then just like everyone else I started to slide. When I first started to slide I missed a Nissan by about 4 inches before I was able to gain control of the car and get it stopped. When it stopped I was sideways pointing right at a the wall between the north and south bound lanes. I got the car pointed the right way and started to make my way down the highway again. At this point I decided that I was going to make it to the next exit and get off the highway and just wait until the sun came out and melted everything before heading home. Well that never happened. Another patch of ice on the highway on a bank caused what could only be called a car pile. If I could paint a picture for you it looked a lot like a giant had played match box cars and left them all in a giant pile on the side of the road. Once I got to that part of the highway I just threw in the towel, put the car in park and just watched as everyone tried to keep going. (Guess they had nothing better to do than to file an insurance claim). The one thing that really blew my mind was when the 18 wheeler tried to make it and slid down to make sure it pinned all the other cars down until someone could pull it out.

I tell you all this to let you know how fortunate I am. If you recall I did a post not to long about trusting God and knowing that he is in control. Each time I started to slide I didn't panic I just kept cool, tried to gain control of the car and say a little prayer that it would be OK. Don't get me wrong there were a few times where I thought for sure my Saturn would be spending some time in the body shop but that never happened and nobody hit me either. It seemed every time the car stopped sliding or the wheels gripped again it was right after I finished a little prayer to keep me safe. I was not concerned about damage to the car but concerned about staying safe and getting home to the family. Turns out in the end I was being watched the whole time and being protected.

Trust

Go figure

Great week but a rough start

This weekend I had one of the best weekends you could ask for. I took Friday off so that I could spend time with my beautiful wife on her birthday and do everything I could to make it a great day. The weekend just continued to be just as great and ended with a great small group and service at church. I want to start by talking about that, I posted about how I was doing with the coaching and how it all comes down to trust, in my LAST POST I talked about being worried about giving up my teaching job and using my current job and coaching as a way to provide for my family. When I was finished typing I said a prayer to be able to follow what I had just written. The next day I had a great day in coaching and think I inspired another person to get into it and to get fit. Then on Sunday we go to small group and guess what the study was about! Giving up control and trusting that god knows the way for you and that you can't do anything about your journey it is all up to him. Finally we get into the sermon......more about trusting God. Who knew that I would think it, write about it, then hear about it twice all in less than four days. That isn't just something that happens. If that isn't sign enough to trust in God I don't think there can be any more for you without him slapping you across the face.

Monday started the Beachbody Challenge voting for the quarterly winners. I am in it and am up against 11 other guys that have all had great results so it is going to be a hard win. I can say that if I don't move on it won't have anything to do with no support, all my Team Beachbody buddies have been voting for me and getting everyone they know to vote for me. Now my personal friends....no so much :-(. If you are reading this and feel compelled to vote please do I can use all the support. You can vote by going HERE if you don't have an account to the site you can sign up for a free account but clicking the not a member at the top of the page. All support is welcome, I really want to show people that a regular guy can do it and hope to inspire others to do the same.

Now the bad news, after about a week and a half of being out of the hospital after an almost 6 week stay my mother in law finds herself right back in the hospital but this time with heart problems. Things are getting serious and the family is very worried. Her name is Jan, I won't go into the details about what is going on but any prayers you could send her way are welcome, right now she could use every prayer that is coming her way. The positive out of the bad situation is that everyone is coming out to support and it is really bringing out the good in people and letting her know that she is loved by many. Please take a moment to say a small prayer for her. 

Have a great day all.

Justin

It all comes down to trust

So the last few days have not been all that great for me, I have been pretty frustrated with a lot of things and to be honest with you something that is coming up in the next few weeks has me really.....really nervous. The change isn't something that I can really go into right now but it is going to make things much better for me in the way of time and stress but I have money concerns about the change. I think this impending change is what has me a little stressed. I am making the change to make a better home life for me and add a lot of free time to spend with my family. The reason I am making this change is because I am putting a lot of trust in my ability to coach people successfully and motivate others to make a change. That is the scary part, as of now I don't know that I am doing the best job at that. I seem to be able to get people fired up about fitness and changing but have a track record of keeping about 10% of those people committed to the change. I know that some of this is my own fault for not being committed to the coaching while going after some certifications so I can't blame anyone but myself.

This is where the trust comes in. Someone once told me that in the bible Jesus says "Don't Worry" and I have to keep telling myself that. By nature I worry about money and if I am able to provide for the family so making a change that is going to take money away does not help with the not worrying. I keep telling myself to trust and in trust I mean trust in the Lord to take care of us. We all know HE will not put more on our shoulders than we can carry. We will face challenges but he gives us those challenges because he knows we can handle it and it will make us stronger. As a matter of fact, I got up early to workout and when I was done everyone was still asleep. I didn't want to wake up my wife so I stayed in the kitchen did my bible reading and devotional and prayed. As part of my prayer I admitted that I am making the change to trust HIM and to know that he will take care of us (he always has) I also prayed for my coaching I was about to lose my status as a coach and be downgraded to a coach, and I was going to go inactive which means I was not going make money. This really made me worry more, I prayed that he help me there, I told him I trusted in him and that he would see me through this. Next thing I know I get a new coach number me (lets me keep my rank), get a sale (keeps me active), AND hit something called Success Club (every coaches monthly goal). Needless to say a total 180 degree turn around all from one prayer and falling into trusting HIM. Give it a try you will be surprised at the results.

Something to fill you APPetite

So today I thought I would spend this post telling everyone about some of the apps I am using on my phone that have helped on on my weight loss journey. Some of these app are new and some of them I have been using for a long time and don't know if I would have been able to do what I have done so far without them. These are in no particular order I am just putting each one out there for each of you to see. If you have an app that you love to use as part of you fitness and nutrition please comment below and I will check them out.

My Fitness Pal

I know I have mentioned this one before but I am going to mention it again. I have used several app over the last two years that are supposed to help track your food and calorie intake and by far this is the best one. Why do I like this app more than the others? Well here is a few reasons. 1. It is FREE you just sign up for an account and off you go. 2. You can use it on the web or your phone. 3. It is customizable to any nutrition plan you are on at the moment and can be programmed to keep track of the protein, carbs, and fat you are taking in each day. 4. The phone app has a bar code scanner that uses the camera on the phone, you just put the phone up to the bar code, it scans it and enters it into your diary. Great tool for tracking what you are eating.

 Run Keeper

I used to use this app all the time (when AT&T GPS could find me) when I was running a lot more. This is a great little app, it uses your phone's GPS to keep track of where you are and your runs. It will tell you the number of miles you ran, your current pace, average pace, calories burned, elevation change, you name it. This is a great way to set a goal such as I am going to run 25 miles this month...it will do that too! It keeps a running tally of all your runs that can be broken down by the day, week, month, or year. If you are thinking about getting into running this is a must have, you would be surprised how far you are actually running when you are tracking it. Plus watching those miles begin to add up really keeps you going.

Fooducate

This one really goes hand in hand with My Fitness Pal. This app does not track food, progress, or anything like that, this app is totally informational. This is a great guy to have with you when you are at the store getting your shopping done. What this app does is let you scan a products bar code (much like My Fitness Pal) and will give you a grade on how healthy the product is. It grades on a letter grade scale just like when you were in school so the higher the grade the better the food. You can even add the option to have it warn you when the food you are eating contains GMOs or not. It is another great free app, give it a shot, you will be surprised where some of your "healthy" staples land.

Max Capacity Training

Here is a workout program that has you working out a few days a week for only 15 minutes a day. Trust me this is no small task. The workouts are intense and so are the moves. To give an example the first workout you do will have you doing 50 seconds of pushups followed by 10 seconds of rest four times. This will continue into squats, planks, and other moves. The point of this is to get you working hard right off the bat and keeping you there to see just how far you will go. The app is 100% free as well and gives pictures and instructions on how to do each of the moves and the timing for each exercise before you go and do them so take a minute to read what you are going to be doing fully before you go out and do it. Don't have a lot of time and want a good workout? This one is for you.

Not one of my better days

So as you no doubt read from my Monday post it was a great day and that day carried into Tuesday as well. I went to bed totally excited about winning the December Beachbody Challenge. I followed up that day by waking up nice and early on Tuesday and did some P90X One on One Yoga and in case you were wondering I am a huge fan of Yoga and it always puts me in a good head space. I know everyone reading most likely knows what yoga is but here is a picture to help you visualize why it puts me in such a great mood. In case you are wondering, I can't do that nor would I ever give it a shot I just did a search for crazy yoga poses and that is what came up. The yoga that I do is pretty hard but nothing like that. I do Bob Harper Yoga Warriors and P90X Yoga X. Both great yoga workouts and both will totally change your mind about yoga in general, they did me. I never thought I would be one for yoga but it is a great addition to any workout plan. Anyway, I digress...again.

Yesterday I don't know what was going on but by the middle of the day (closer to 10 AM really) I was just in a bad mood, and I was not doing well to keep in until it passed. The reason why I share this is two fold. 1. It shows that everyone is human and we all have days like this. I know I am writing this blog to share my thoughts as I try to become a better person, a journey that should never end in my opinion, but everyone has bad days. It is how we deal with those bad days and how we project those bad days onto others that makes the big difference. Rather than let it pass or find the root of the problem I decided to lash out a little and let the mood affect most of my day. Let me tell you that is not the correct way to deal with being in a bad mood. 2. To let everyone know that this is normal, don't let a bad mood, day, or workout ruin things for you I have plenty to be happy about and most of it came this week. Have there been some down things and am I on a epic streak of not doing well with my Beachbody coaching...yes! Am I going to let that bother me and fester or am I going to see what I can do to fix it and get things going in the right direction. I know the answer for me personally, the trick is to look inside yourself to find what your answer is....be honest.

One last thing and I will be on my way, these have been getting long the last few times! I have been trying to help out a guy I came across on the teambeachbody.com forums. He was complaining that he was not getting the results he wanted doing INSANITY. He is very confused and does not know what how much or what to eat. He is not following the nutrition guide and doing what he wants, so guess what is problem is. I tried giving him advice but his response every time is negative and he does not want to hear it. I don't know what he has going on in his life and it really isn't my business but it is important to note that his attitude is going to be his downfall. I told him that every interaction he has had with me has been negative and if he goes into his day like that it is what he is going to get out of his day as well. Or in this case his workouts. I wish him the best and hope that he finds his results but some people just don't want to be helped. By the way this little story will most likely be part of a future post soon.

Justin

An amazing thing happened!

Hope this inspires others

Yesterday I was at a work dinner that was given to all of us that got promoted this last year. Yep, I was announced as someone with a promotion at the end of the year. What made this promotion so special? Let me tell you. You know you are valued as an employee of a company that you have been working for almost 5 years when the sign they put on your door spells your name wrong. Yep that is right, they did not spell my name correctly. Now this is not a new thing to me people spell my name wrong all the time but it is normally my last name. I totally get that, Bumpus is not the most common name around and I don't speak up all that much on the phone so I can give people that one a lot of the times. What made this one different was they spelled my first name wrong, yep, the first name Justin, J-U-S-T-I-N pretty hard I know. I can cut them a little bit of slack since it has ONLY been 4.5 years I have been here. Anyways, I digress, that is not the reason for the post I just wanted to get it off my chest.

Here is what you should read

While at the promotion dinner I got an email from Beachbody (the people I always talk about), makers of INSANITY, P90X, and all kinds of other great workout programs. The reason for the email, every time you finish a workout program you can send them before and after pictures so that you can get a free T-Shirt. Well the last program I did (you can find it by clicking the fitness programs tab) was Tai Cheng, I used it to let my body recover and work on balance and body control. Which on a side not saved my bottom from eating it yesterday when I slid on a bad patch of ice in the parking lot, but that is another story. They were so impressed by my results (I sent them my total transformation) that they named me the December Beachbody Challenge winner for my age group. What does this mean? It means that I get a check for $1000 dollars for being the winner (I got the email just a few minutes ago that it will be coming) and will be putting me in the quarterly voting for a trip to LA, $5000, and a chance to win the $100,000 dollar grand prize, can't ask for too much more than that. I will post the link here so you can go and vote for me!!

What to take from this

I am just a normal guy, nothing special or spectacular about me. I made a decision that I needed to make a change in my life for my family so that I could be around for a while and not on my way to the grave like I had been the way I was living. I stuck with my determination and 18 months later I was down over 120 lbs and 16 inches off my waist line. I think that most people to don't reach their goals because they have not found the real reason they want to lose. I should know I had tried several times before to lose the weight I had but had failed each time. What was the difference between this time and all the times before? I didn't just wake up and decide to get fit. I really thought about it, decided why I wanted to do it kept that thought in my mind when things got hard or when I didn't want to get up in the morning and workout. That thought, the thought of growing old with my family is what kept me going. I know the thought is going to be different for everyone I just want to make sure everyone knows to go ahead and find that reason make it a good one and hold on to it, before you know it you will reach your goal.

One last thing

You heard me say wake up early...that is right I choose to get up in the mornings and workout before I do anything else. I know it is hard for some people to comprehend because everyone loves their sleep but for me I know that if I had a crappy day at work or if something happens where I can't be home on time I know that I will skip workouts. I guess you have to ask yourself, what is more important another 30 to 60 minutes of sleep each morning or more years on this earth to enjoy the time with your loved ones.....just something to think about!

What I did changed my life!

Ok, here we are 10 days into the new year, I know this is going to sound weird but it already seems like it is going by so fast. I can't speak for everyone but I can say that it feels like it has flown because I spent so much time reading and studying that I didn't get to spend the time I wanted to with the family around the holidays. I know, sob, but just like I said in my last post time is gone, and it is time to move forward which is what brings me to my topic today.

As many people know, and most that have been reading this blog or my last blog I started on a difficult journey two years ago. This isn't a new journey it is a journey millions of Americans start on each year and millions of others should but don't. What is the journey you ask, most of you know what is coming.......getting fit. Yep that is right, I am going to bring up the fitness I have found yet again. I am not doing it as a plug or a go and get it, I am doing it to prove a point on how it has changed my life. It does go without saying that losing 125 lbs and 16 inches from you waist does change your life in very obvious ways, I feel better, I sleep better, I have more energy, I look forward to going outside with the family, the list goes on and on. This is not the change that I want to talk about today, the change I want to talk about is how this fitness change changed me on the inside.

When I first decided to get fit, I was not doing it for me, I was doing it for the people around my, most importantly my wife and my daughter. I wanted to make sure I was going to be around for them and at the rate I was going that was not going to happen. I had not been to a doctor in over 10 years because I know what I was going to be told and I did want to hear it. The changes that have made the biggest impact on my life are the changes that have happened to me in the inside. These changes came from making the changes on the outside. No I am not talking about blood pressure and things like that, I am talking about the drive getting fit put in me. What do you mean you ask, let me tell you.

When getting fit and working out you know, or at least you better know, that it is going to be hard and there are going to be set backs. This does not hold true for just working out it hold true in life. Working out gave me a goal and I worked to that goal until I got it. I went after it with a passion. Did I have set backs, yes. Did I get discouraged, yes. Did I have days that I just wanted to quit because the voice in my head told me I couldn't do it, yes. There were even days where I would let that stop me and skip a workout or end early but I would get upset with myself and get right back on the horse. What is the point here,  the point is I set a goal and I went after that goal with all that I had and I got there. Yes I am using my fitness as an example but the can be applied to anything, I decided I was finally going to buckle down and get my CISSP, I made that a goal and trust me I went after that harder than I had gone after anything and guess what, I did that.

I am not trying to puff out my chest and tell everyone how great I am. (I have never felt that way trust me) I am telling you all this to show you that no matter what your goal is, no matter how big that goal is and how far away it may seem you can do it. Let me put some stress on the important part on that and say it again YOU can do it. Yes you, what I am saying here is that setting a goal isn't enough, you can't say this is the year I am going to get in shape or this is the year I am going to get a better job, or this is the year that I am going to get out of debt, and then keep doing things the way you have been for years. Don't think for a minute that doing what you have been doing for years without making changes is going to get you to that goal. You have to get out of your comfort zone, you have to do things that you don't want to do, and get this you have to give up some things and make some real change. It will be hard at first (trust me I know), there will be days that you don't want to do it or that you want to fall back to your old ways but don't let that happen.

Set your goals, go after your goals, make the hard changes, and reap the rewards. Focus on the small victories to keep you going and before you know it you will see your goals get done and you will be amazed at how great it will make you feel.

Hope this helps all of you that made commitments this year...just a little food for thought

This IS the day

For those that don't know we have been having all kind of things going on with the family this year. Don't get me wrong it has been a great holiday and Christmas season but there have been some struggles we have faced that we may not have been able to get through if each of us in the family didn't have one another to lean on. Believe it or not I am going somewhere with this.....

Today I was at church with Haley (Whitney was visiting her mom in the hospital so she was not able to make it) It was the first service of the new year and there was a great energy in the room and a big message on the screens about 2013 and the new year. The sermon that was given today spoke to me and inspired me to write this so I figured I would. I told everyone I would be posting more this year and really have not yet but decided this was the best start to a new year to start posting more often again.

The scripture reading was Psalm 118:24 "This is the day the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it" Now I am not going to spend any time going over what was said in the sermon because that would not do the Pastor Mack Strange any favors as there is no way I could relay the message with the same passion and meaning that Mack gives in all his sermons but I can say this, most of which came from the sermon. Each of us no matter who we are is given the same 24 hours in our day, we all spend those 24 hours trying to cram WAY more time into those 24 hours then we can. I know I am very guilty of it, I spend all kinds of time working my two jobs, trying to be a family man, and studying for my CISSP test (that I passed by the way) and didn't spend the time as meaningfully as I could have during the holiday season. There is one thing about time, when it is gone it is gone, so that time is away but that does not mean I don't have the rest of today and every new day to make the most of it, to wake up and rejoice in the day that I have been given. Think about that for a minute, don't spend time wondering what you are going to be doing the next day or worry over how much you have to get done and how you are going to get it all done. Just wake up and rejoice in the day you were given and make the most of it, if you don't get everything done or it ended up not being a great day because of work, a fight at home, some bad news, whatever just know that soon that day will be over and tomorrow is a brand new gift.

Here is my challenge to everyone, make the most out of your day, spend your time to the best of your abilities, peal yourself away from the TV or Facebook and do something meaningful with your time. Spend time with the family, go for a walk, call someone you have not talked to in a while, volunteer somewhere, sit and pray with someone that needs it, or even walk up to a total stranger or someone you see running and tell them how awesome they are. You never know what a small thing like that can do for someone and their day.

Over the Christmas time the family (Whitney's idea so I won't take credit) focused on making the time about giving and others. We did things such as giving out cookies to the police and firemen, and both of us kept candy canes in the car with little notes on them that we could hand out to whoever we wanted. You would be amazed at the big smiles and the thank you's I got from something so small, what you do to make an impact on someone does not have to be huge, the smallest things can make the biggest difference. Perhaps the person you give a cookie to has had hard times and has not eaten in a day and a half. Perhaps the runner you see is taking their first run after an event that kept them off the road, perhaps even you are finding someone that is taking the first step towards making a change and is worried about the road to come and that one little "way to go" is just what they needed to hear to know they can do it. You don't have to move mountains with a bulldozer, it can be done one stone at a time.

Anyways just something to think about.

Starting off a new

So in the spirit of being better one of my goals (I don't make resolutions) is to make sure I get active on posting again, I have been studying for a test that is a life changer and I am taking it Wednesday morning. Today I did not have all that great a time with the practice exams but will continue to do my best and give it all that I have on Wednesday. After that I am all about this blog again and will shoot for getting it updated three times a week. Make sure you hold me to that if you don't see posts feel free to comment and I will get off my but. Some of the other things I am going to be doing is working much harder at my beachbody business to get people fit, I know this time of year is a time that everyone decided that they are going to get fit, heck I made the same decision two years ago and now I am 125 lbs lighter than I once was and lost 16 inches off my waist line. Trust me if I can do it anyone can so I am here to help people do just that. If anyone wants help getting fit please feel free to contact me and I will help you out. I am also going to work on spending time in the word to make myself a better me. If I pull out some good bits, impossible not to, I will be sure to share them with everyone. Lets make this a great year and anyone that is going to be out tonight be safe, don't do anything stupid and keep the risk away from you and others.

Justin

Don't be scared of the Turkey

For those of you that don't know I have the best wife in the world and I am happy to say that. On that not she had a conversation with a friend who is trying to lose weight and is worried about the next month...Aren't we all, but this is what she wrote to help her get through the festivities so I wanted to share it with my readers here!

Enjoy, I could not have written it better myself so I won't even try:

Around this time of year there is always a sense of dread to those who have been eating healthier.  How do I stay on track and still enjoy all the holiday traditions?  Well, we hope to help you out.  We may not answer all of your questions but hey, it's a start.  Every once in a while it is okay to give yourself permission to enjoy those not so healthy foods.  Do it in moderation and watch your portions.  Portion control is a big factor over the holidays.  It is human nature to over indulge.  Then there is the reward mindset, I've worked so hard these last 6 months, I deserve an extra piece of pie.  That can set you back.  But if you have a small slice and get rid of that craving, it is okay.  Try not to overload your plate.  Try not to go back for seconds.  Drink plenty of water.  Water keeps you feeling full!  If you can, make a few items that you know you can eat without worrying.  Or if you are making the whole meal try and "skinny" it and see if any one notices.  There are great recipes out there.  We have included some here, but if you need more checkout www.skinnytaste.com orwww.cookinglight.com or your favorite website for a healthier version.  Pecan pie is always a staple at Thanksgiving whether it gets eaten or not.  Well this year I am making mini pecan phyllo tarts. http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/11/mini-pecan-phyllo-tarts.html  There is only 68 calories in each one. Both of those websites have entire sections dedicated to healthy thanksgiving meals right now. More recipes in a minute.  The best suggestion I have though, is if you eat the whole nine yards of everything you wanted, don't beat yourself up and think oh I've ruined my day/month/year, I will just start over at new years.  Remember it was just one meal.  The very next meal you can go back to eating how you were.  The very next day you can start again.  Don't fall into the holiday trap of waiting to start over.  One meal wont hurt you that much.  But dot give up on all your hard work over one meal or one day.  Keep it up.  You have made it this far.  You can continue.  You may even be surprised when the holidays are said and done, you may have continued to lose weight.  Please let us know if you have any questions.  Good luck and stay strong!



http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/11/moms-stuffing-lightened-up.html

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/10/sweet-potato-casserole.html

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/03/garlic-mashed-potatoes-3-ww-points.html

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/11/skinny-pumpkin-pie.html

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/09/cinnamon-apple-crisp.html

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/11/skinny-turkey-cuban-sandwich.html

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/green-bean-casserole-10000000521452/
http://www.cookinglight.com/entertaining/holidays-occasions/holiday-cookbook-sides-00400000030233/

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/roast-turkey-with-truffle-gravy-10000001673133/

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/maple-mustard-glazed-fresh-ham-50400000117852/

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/creamy-light-macaroni-cheese-50400000115195/

They told me the earth was round

Why do I bring this up, well it is for one reason and one reason only because yet again it seems my schedule has caused me to fall off the planet once more. I tell you I am really trying to make sure I can post here everyday but busy busy. The few times I did have a minute to post I decided to spend time with the family instead because you know what they say, family first. So buckle up it is time to go over what has been going on for a little while.

Better Physical Me

I have still been working out and I have not missed a day yet, I came close this weekend because I was not in the best mood or head space but my workout sitting there taunting me just kept eating away until I did it after I put Haley to bed. I have not done much running (none at all really) since the half marathon but most of it has to do with the fact that I had been hurting from my fall but that is finally getting better so if I have a little time tomorrow I may jump on the treadmill at lunch today. Today was the first day of week 9 for me in Tai Cheng and it was my first pass on the final sequence. I did a lot better than I thought I would and it was my best sequence to date. As a matter of fact after sequence 2 I waited a few days in order to get it but today I did so well that I will be adding the bands tomorrow! Then it is four weeks of sequences and done!!!

Better Husband

I don't know if I have been a better husband but I like to think that I am trying to be. Whitney and I are doing a Sunday school class at church called the five love languages and so far (two of three sessions, we did miss one). It has been really eye opening, not only does it tell me things about myself I didn't know but it is also showing me just how much I was not understanding aspects of myself and how I can take these aspects I already have and make them better. The study comes with DVDs that we watch each week and a book that we are reading, the book is great and I try to read a couple pages of it every morning when I eat breakfast. 

Better Spiritually

We have been going to church each week and really feel connected to this group. Don't get me wrong the last group we went to church with was great but it was one day a week we didn't do any of the small group stuff and we really didn't connect with the pasture. On the other hand this church is much smaller we have gone to a few of the events and are praying for what we are going to do to help the church move forward. All in all it has been great

Better Professionally

Both in my BeachBody business and in my IT work. I went to a server 2012 Boot Camp yesterday and was really impressed with what I saw, I got all my study material for the CISSP camp that I will be doing next month and I am getting the itch to get more certifications again, I just have to find the time for it but I am sure that I will. Coaching is going great as well, I have been assigned a few people to work with and some of them are looking to start coaching as well. I have been on a volume streak and have made some kind of commission each week over the last 7 weeks. I even got my first team bonus and all that did was fire me up more to get even more coaches signed up to help other and get people off up and moving. 

Yummy Yummy

Today I am going tell you a little something about eating and the way I eat and some of the great meals my wife Whitney makes on the few days that I get to go home and have dinner with the family rather than eat cold left overs sitting in traffic in my car. Trust me happens a lot more often than you think, As a matter of it is normally three times a week I find myself eating out of my car. Yes it is sad but you do what you have to do for family, I have confidence and faith that my Team BeachBody business will take off soon and I can stop teaching!

So here is what we like.

There are several sites that we are fans of, and I can't take the credit for them because Whitney is the one that found them but they are all worth checking out. They are 100% proof that you don't have to eat low flavor boring food to eat healthy, several of the meals are skinny alternatives to what you may already be used to eating. We have had lasagna, cookies, brownies, chicken alfrado, you get the picture. The first one is Skinnytaste.com, I don't know if I am remembering correctly but I seem too think this is one of the first ones we started using. Again don't fact check me here, Whitney found it on FaceBook where they would post meals and when you go to the site it almost overwhelming the amount of choices you have! Another great one we use is skinnyms.com. Yet another site with great subs of traditional meals that you grew up with, as a matter of fact part of what we are having for dinner tonight is a bread pudding that was originally 600 calories a serving that they were able to bring down to 155...amazing I know. The thing I like about this site is it has more than just meals, it has fitness tips, workouts, all kinds of healthy living tips. We also like using Myrecipes.com. I don't know quite as much about this site but from what I understand it is a collaboration of  several different healthy cooking sources so you get lots of choices there. Whitney also finds a lot of meal using pintrest, this isn't anything that I have ever logged into or signed up for but I know many of the things we found on there have been awesome. Finally, we also have a subscription to Cooking Light magazine and get plenty of ideas there as well. I can go on and on for ever about this but I think that you are getting the point, not know what to eat or saying "I can't cook healthy" is a bunch of crap it can be done you just need to want to do it. As a matter of fact once you start it is easier to healthy than it is to eat the way you have been eating because you have plan. I say check some of these things out an comment here some of the things you have tried and what your favs have been. 

Justin  

(Forgive the formatting I still can't seem to figure out the reasoning behind why I can't put picture where I want the) 

Important enough to share

For those of you that are FaceBook friends or work with me at BeachBody you have already seen this because I have shared it there. For those of you that do not fall into those groups I came across this little article and feel like I should share it.

Weight Gain When Starting To Exercise

This was written by the woman that does TurboJam, TurboFire, and ChelenExtream. All three are BeachBody programs that you can check out and pick up BY CLICKING HERE. My wife has done TurboJam and we just ordered TurboFire to do after Les Mills Combat. Anyways, enough with the shameless marketing. A quick overview of the article is this.

We are workout of the same reason we want to lose fat and get healthy, so what do we start doing the minute we start exercising and eating right? We all start looking at the scale, because we want to see our hard work pay off and when we bust our humps for a few weeks and the scale goes up we get angry and some people even quit. Well this article tells you why this happens, at the end of the day when you start a new program your body is shocked about what is happening to it and goes into a defensive mode to protect the muscles. That is part of the soreness you feel, part of the defense is retaining more water so that surrounds the muscles and stops further damage. Well that extra water causes your weight to go up and it will normally happen around the 2 week mark but don't worry it is only a short term thing, keep doing what you are doing and you will get back to where you want to be. Rather than listen to the scale listen to the tape measure it will never lie to you.

In a nutshell this is what happens when you start your new program, you lose a few pounds quickly, that is the retained water and junk in your body getting washed out, a few weeks in you might gain a little weight, check the aforementioned blurb above. Then your body will realize that you are keeping it active and making it healthy and things will level out. It is just that simple. In the end it is important to remember that all journeys begin with a first step and there will be detours along the way so don't let one little number (a common thing at that) stop you from going after what you want!



Justin

Learn something everyday

Yes, as much as we fight learning as kids I now embrace it and try to learn something new everyday. It can be any number of different things that I might decide to pick up but most of the time it is centered on whatever passion I may have stumbled upon at the time. Right now it is normally fitness and nutrition as you can tell from the first few posts of the new blog.

Little bit different today

Today I am going a little different of a route, if you are going to be a better all around person you need to focus on more than just the physical, there is also the spiritual, and the mental. It does not take a rocket scientist to know that improving the physical you takes diet and exercise. Improving the mental you has more do to with study, reading, volunteer work, etc. (at least in my opinion). To improve spiritually you are looking at spending time with God and with the Bible. This Tuesday, like most Tuesday's that is exactly how I started my day. First of all I started reading the daily "Upper Room" devotionals again, they always have good in site and make you think, and then I went off to bible study. Yep I said it bible study, believe it or not a once former bartender that used to tell people he thought the Bible was the best work of fiction written goes to a men's bible study every Tuesday morning. We have been studying Deuteronomy for quite some time now and today we took a look at chapter 28. Let me tell you it is a long chapter and there is a lot to learn in that one.  First of all the chapter starts pretty happy and up beat, for lack of a better term. It goes over all the blessing you will receive if you follow God's laws and command so woo hoo, happy day. Then it take quite a turn and starts talking about the curses if you decide you don't want to follow the commands. Let me tell you it is a majority of the chapter. Things that are a little hard to read, you will plant food and get nothing from it, you will be defeated by your enemies, and get this, you will be so hungry you will eat your own children. Yep, it says that.....a lot. Bottom line if given the choice between following the laws and command of God and not, I am going with following and I have been trying to do that for a while now, I am not perfect at that but only one person really is and if I need to say who that person is then you might want to join me on Tuesday mornings :-). My upper room reading was good as well this morning it talked about trusting God in all that you do (something I struggle with everyday) and uses an example of a dad swinging his child, it really have me something to think about and pray about. As we grow older we don't want to give up control or trust in others or even God when it comes to getting things done but it seems that every time I have let go of my pride and done just that it has paid off! Perhaps I will learn from it one of these days. 

Until tomorrow.

Update, The pain is almost gone and I am feeling much better, I have a little bit of a lower back thing going on right now but it is more from the way I have been sitting the last two days than anything else so I know once the pain in the rear stops the pain in the back will as well. 

Justin

Back after a while

Yes, I know, I know it seems like I am picking this blog up right where I left off the last one. How is that you   ask, with good ideas to help but then no posts. I can assure you that is not the case here there has been a lot going on and I have been out of town for a little while for the passing of my grandfather but now things are back to normal and I can start posting some more again. This post is a little off the cuff and being written while on pain killers so I don't know where it is going to go but I hope you will follow me down the rabbit whole.

Cool app I found

First let me tell you about a cool new phone app I found while I was away. It is called Fooducate and it is a great little app. Here is how it works, it is pretty simple, when you are out shopping or at your house all you have to do is open the app and scan the bar code of the food you are about to buy or eat. The app will then give you the healthy grade of the item and if it is not all that high on the list it will offer you up some alternatives to the food you have selected. It is really eye opening you can even have it warn you if the food you are eating contains GMO Genetically Modified Organisms so you know what might not be all that good for you. When you download it be careful my wife and I ended up scanning almost everything in the house, most of it was good but a few things were quite a surprise. I look at it as knowledge, most of your weight loss results are going to happen in the kitchen and the more educated you are the better the chances you are going to make the right decisions. One of the coaches I work with in my home business just told me they even have a diabetic centered one for those that need it so it really is worth checking out. Check it out and comment on some of the more surprising foods you find. Trust me there is so much we will never figure it all out so why not help each other.

Workouts

Although I had to go to Boston for a few days last week I have been sticking with my workouts and all has been fine. Today I finished week 7 of Tai Cheng and will have a day off before starting the first set of combos that I am looking forward to. Now that I have finished week 7 I have learned all 18 moves, don't get me wrong I have forgotten some of them as well. The good news is after this phase we will be going through all the moves at once then I just have to decide if I want to get the upgrade DVD to do all 18 moves in a sequence. I am leaning toward that but my change my mind since I just picked up TurboFire while it was on sale but we will see. Once Tai Cheng is over I will be continuing forward with Les Mill's Combat. It is a 60 day MMA based workout and my wife and I are totally excited about it. Should be here in December. You can check out some info on it CLICKING HERE It looks awesome!!! If you want more info on either of these you can EMAIL ME and I will send you more info.

Well that is really it for now, when I get much less foggy and have some more time to come up with a post I will have more for you tomorrow.

Justin

Challenge for you

Take the first steps!

So like I said in earlier posts, the key to becoming a better person and going on any journey is to take small steps, the same holds true for health and fitness. In that idea I challenge my readers to take a first step and this one is an easy one.

Yesterday's Tomorrow is Today

First of all I know we are getting into a time if year where most people just let loose and shove anything they can find into their face. Trust me I do it on some days as well. Like all things keep it in moderation and you should be OK. Be honest on this next question, how many people have gone into the season with the idea of "I am going to enjoy this time eat what I want and my new years 'resolution' will be to lose the weight I gained PLUS get in shape." For those of you that know what I am taking about think back to if you actually did that or if you gave it a go and gave up, kept the weight you put on the previous holiday season and went on with life. Fast forward, new holiday season, new weight gain, new resolution...bigger pants. Let me pose this idea to you Resolutions are CRAP. All it is is an excuse to pick a day to "start" because the new year makes the most sense but thing about this, a Thursday is just as good a start day than new years day. You don't have to go gung ho just get started. That is the spirit of this post, start the trend of changing now, resolutions don't work life changes work, drastic changes are hard (quit smoking cold turkey for example) small changes are easy, small change after small change equals big change, equals results you want!! Think about it, you don't drop ship in a house, you build small parts each day until it is finished and sturdy. Same thing goes for your fitness.

What can you do to start?

Here is my challenge to you, take a minute to look at what you are eating each day, don't change what you are eating, if you are eating healthy great keep going, if you eat like the average person great don't change a thing. That is the best part of this challenge it is easy. Go to MY FITNESS PAL and create an account, it is free. Use it to enter in what you are eating, be honest don't cheat no one sees it but you and track what you are eating. At the end of the day look it over and see how you really did vs. how you thought you did. Do that for a week and then decide if what you are doing is the best thing for you and your health. If you have an eye opening realization and would like some help getting things under control post a comment below or contact me directly if you have my information and I will be happy to send you suggestions to clean up your diet. 

Don't be scared, take this challenge it could change your life. 

Justin

We all have long days

I am just lucky enough to have three of them every week for the last 5 weeks now but that is OK because I only have six more long weeks to go. Give me a minute to explain what I am talking about. It is very important to me that Whitney gets to stay home with Haley and work with her everyday on becoming a better child. I am not saying there is anything wrong with putting your children in day care at all there are several out there that are great and they all are held  to high standards. (At least her in TN they are) I think that it is everyone's wish  to be able to have a parent stay home with their child when they are young. I am just blessed enough to have found a way to make that happen.

How it is done

Here is how I do it. I work two (three if you count my Beachbody Coach) jobs. The first one is a full time Senior Technology Consultant for Kraft Technology Group, I help small and medium businesses with IT needs so they don't have to hire a staff, and I now am helping the IT audit group with bank compliance audits and things of that nature. My second job is an Information Technology and Information Security instructor at ITT-Tech. This is where the long days come in. Three days a week Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday (Yes EVEN FRIDAY) I finish my day job at 5 PM and drive 11 miles (normally takes about 40 minutes in Nashville traffic) to ITT where I work from 6 until about 10:30. It goes without saying that it can take a toll on you and make you really tired the next day just so you can wake up and do it all over again. On top of all that I am usually doing a Beachbody fitness program that has me working out up to an hour a day six days a week. Schedule balance is key here!!

How I do it

I wake up everyday at 5 AM sometimes a little sooner depending on what I have going on that day or where I am starting my day, a client office perhaps. I do this so I can get my workout in, for me not getting that little bit of sleep in the morning is worth the benefit I get from working out each day..and trust me the benefits are there you can tell from the pictures I put up in the last post. Once I am done with the workout I have a pretty darn scheduled morning up until work. I eat the same breakfast just about everyday with some changes so I have to cut up my apple, cook my four eggs, heat the oatmeal and decided what type of yogurt I am going to have. Once I am done it is clean up and lunch packing time. I pack my lunch for work everyday, not only does it save money but it is also a great way to see some weight loss. Too many restaurants have meals that "appear" to be healthy but in the end they are very far from it. When I pack my lunch each day not only do I now what I am putting in my body but I know all the nutritional information on it as well. (Huge deal for me) I enter everything I eat into My Fitness Pal and I will talk more about that in future posts. You should check it out because it is free and easy to use. Packing lunch everyday only take about 10 minutes because I normally have a good idea of what I am going to have when I go to bed so it is just a matter of getting together in the morning.

Where does the energy come from?

This might sound crazy but most of the energy comes from the fact that I do wake up early and workout each day, it really starts your day off right and gets the blood going which wakes you up. Not to mention it releases endorphins in the body that puts you in a better mood, and trust me in my lines of work it is needed! I also drink one meal replacement shake by the name of Shakeology everyday, normally as a snack or as a end of dinner treat. It is super healthy and has the same nutritional value of hitting a salad bar 5 times. I truly believe this has a huge impact on my daily energy and mood as well (because that is what my wife tells me) I will go more into Shakeology in future posts but if you want to learn a little more about it you can WATCH THIS VIDEO it gives you all the info you need about it and if you have any questions you can comment below or contact me directly. Think of it as putting premium gas in your car, the better the fuel the better the performance, and that goes the same for the body. 

Why tell you all this?

I go on this rant not to tell you how awesome I think I am (not the case at all) but to show you that a little planning and dedication can really go a long way in starting your journey to a better you. Remember nothing starts without a first step and having a clear plan in that first step, set a goal of what you want to be better at then pick the tasks that you need to do to head to that goal. Once you have that you just start banging them out one at a time until you get there. I was telling Whitney the other day that once I accomplish something it seems much less impressive to me (that is my own flaw) but I have gone from being a 265 lb person to the person I am today who just happened to run his second half marathon  this year and is planning on hitting the treadmill at lunch today to run a 5K. Small steps lead to huge results.

Justin

A new blog a new me!

Thanks for checking it out!!!

So this is my second run a a blog my first one did pretty well and I got a good number of hits from it, a lot of them were from web spiders or people over seas trying to spam my readers with ads but hey a hit is a hit right. The first blog was fun and I enjoyed writing it until I got really busy at work and had to stop for a little while. Oh, and the other thing was I just talked about how my workouts were going each day and I think people get a little tired of that after a while so this one is going to take a different approach at the whole blog thing!!!

A little about me!!!!

First of all I am not all that much of a writer and I am certainly not a proof reader by any stretch, and trust me as you read this each time I post you will quickly realize that. If you can't tell by the first paragraph I have gotten into being active and fit over the last two years  and have done great doing it. I started 2011 at 265 lbs and a size 46 waist now I am 145 lbs and a size 30 if you can believe that. I used my new passion for fitness to help other get the same results that I have by becoming a Team BeachBody Coach. It has been challenging and rewarding all at the same time. I love hearing people tell me about the great results they are getting. If case my success is hard to believe (for some it can be) here are a few pictures of the person I was physically and the person I am now. Yep fat guy to not so fat guy and no that is not the same shirt!There are a lot of reasons for doing what I did but that is for another post. I am at IT "professional" if nothing else in knowledge but as everyone knows we only grow up so much as men but I am working on that part too don't worry. SEGWAYYY I am also a husband of a wonderful woman, and the father of the best child you could ask for, more on that in future posts as well. I will be using this blog to talk about them and how I want to be a better husband and father each day. My wife and I have also gotten into clean healthy eating over the last few years and have found some great sites to get really good meals that are healthy and low cal. Our two go to sites are Skinny Taste and Skinny Ms among others, so as I plan to share this blog with people I work with as a coach I will post about some of the meals that we have had with links and perhaps even pictures you never know!!! SIDE NOTE the formatting of where the pictures are is strange because I could not figure out how to put them where I wanted. One last thing, I am also working to become more God centered and a better person, I now take part in two bible studies and have started praying everyday, trust me those are both huge for me. As part of this goal I will post about things I pick up in the studies and how I think they apply today. That is the great thing about the bible, it is really a living document!! There is plenty more I want to cover but I don't want this first post to go too long and lose all four readers before I even get started. 

What I hope to do here!!!

I have decided that our lives are wasted if we are not constantly trying to become better people too many of us here in America have decided that OK is good enough, and that is sad. (I am also betting that is why we are in the shape we are in today) We have to constantly challenge ourselves to be better people, emotionally, spiritually, physically, and mentally. I have decided that journey is not over for me yet and I will continue to push myself further and further to become "A Better Bumpus" I encourage others to do the same and I hope that my telling about my journey, with all its rewards and struggles, will motivate others to follow in my foot steps. OK HERE COMES THE CHEESY If each of use work to be a better person before we know it we will be living in a better place. 

So yes this is a wordy one but a good one. (At least I think it is an OK start!)